Ensuring that all users of a group message receive a response to the group message

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for ensuring that all users of a group message receive a response to the group message. The content of a detected group message is analyzed to determine if the group message requires a response and, if so, to assess the urgency of the response. If the analyzed group message requires a response, then a determination is made as to whether a response was received by all or a subset of the users of the group message (sender and recipients of the group message) within a threshold amount of time based on the urgency of the response. If the response was only received by a subset of the users of the group message, then the response is broadcasted to the other users of the group message who had not previously received the response if no confidential information is detected in the response.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to communications, and moreparticularly to ensuring that all users of a group message (sender andrecipients of a message sent to multiple users) receive a response tothe group message.

BACKGROUND

There are many different ways to communicate with other users, such asvia e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, etc.

Oftentimes, a message may be sent to multiple users, such as a groupmessage (a message sent to a group of users). However, one of therecipients of the group message may not respond to all the users of thegroup message (both the sender and all the recipients of the groupmessage). For example, a group message may be sent via e-mail to aprimary recipient by a sender while cc'ing other users. At times, theprimary recipient of the message may respond to the sender directly in adifferent channel (e.g., via instant message) than the channel used tosend the group message (e.g., via e-mail). As a result, the response tothe sender may not be received by the other recipients of the groupmessage. The other recipients of the group message may be waiting toreceive a response, such as those recipients who were cc'd in theoriginal message. These other recipients may follow-up with the primaryrecipient to see if the user has responded to the group message. Theuser would then have to resend or repeat the same response message tothe other recipients of the group message. Such a process is laborsomeand counterproductive.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for ensuring thatall users of a group message receive a response to the group messagecomprises monitoring messages sent over a communication network. Themethod further comprises detecting a group message from the monitoredmessages that was sent to multiple users. The method additionallycomprises analyzing content of the group message to determine if thegroup message requires a response and, if so, to assess an urgency ofthe response, where the group message requires a response due to aquestion or action item presented in the group message. Furthermore, themethod comprises determining whether a response to the group message wassent and received by all users of the group message within a thresholdamount of time based on the urgency of the response in response to thegroup message requiring the response, where the users of the groupmessage comprise a sender and recipients of the group message.Additionally, the method comprises determining whether the response tothe group message was sent and received by a subset of all users of thegroup message within the threshold amount of time in response todetermining that the response to the group message was not received byall users of the group message within the threshold amount of time. Inaddition, the method comprises broadcasting the response to the groupmessage to other users of the group message who had not previouslyreceived the response in response to determining that the response tothe group message was received by the subset of all users of the groupmessage within the threshold of time.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system configured in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a message analyzer inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A-3B are a flowchart of a method for ensuring that all users of agroup message (recipients and sender) receive a response to the groupmessage when the response was received by only a subset of the users ofthe group message in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for broadcasting the response to thegroup message to other users who received a message involving a similarquestion that was queried in the group message in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for ensuring that all users of a group message receive aresponse to the group message. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, a message analyzer monitors the messages sent over acommunication network. A message (group message) out of the monitoredmessages that is sent to multiple users is detected. The content of thegroup message is analyzed to determine if the group message requires aresponse and, if so, to assess the urgency of the response. In oneembodiment, a message requires a response due to a question or actionitem presented in the message. If the analyzed group message requires aresponse, then a determination is made by the message analyzer as towhether a response was received by all or a subset of the users of thegroup message within a threshold amount of time based on the urgency ofthe response. As used herein, “users of the group message” refer to boththe sender and the recipients of the group message. If the response wasonly received by a subset of the users of the group message, then theresponse is analyzed for confidential information. If no confidentialinformation is detected in the response, then the response isbroadcasted to the other users of the group message who had notpreviously received the response. In this manner, all users of a groupmessage (recipients and sender) can be ensured of receiving a responseto the group message when the response was received by only a subset ofthe users of the group message without requiring the resending of theresponse by a user (e.g., sender of the response) to the other users ofthe group message who failed to receive the original response.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodimentof the present invention of a communication system 100 for practicingthe principles of the present invention in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. Communication system 100 includes computingdevices 101A-101C (identified as “Computing Device A,” “Computing DeviceB,” and “Computing Device C,” respectively, in FIG. 1) connected to aserver 102 via a network 103. Computing devices 101A-101C maycollectively or individually be referred to as computing devices 101 orcomputing device 101, respectively. It is noted that both computingdevices 101 and the users of computing devices 101 may be identifiedwith element number 101.

Computing device 101 may be any type of computing device (e.g., portablecomputing unit, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptopcomputer, mobile phone, navigation device, game console, desktopcomputer system, workstation, Internet appliance and the like)configured with the capability of connecting to network 103 andconsequently communicating with other computing devices 101 and server102.

Computing devices 101 may be configured to send and receive text-basedmessages in real-time during an instant messaging session. Any user ofcomputing device 101 may be the creator or initiator of an instantmessage (message in instant messaging) and any user of computing device101 may be a recipient of an instant message. Furthermore, any user ofcomputing device 101 may be able to create, receive and send e-mails.Additionally, any user of computing device 101 may be able to send andreceive text messages, such as Short Message Services (SMS) messages.

Network 103 may be, for example, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, a wireless wide area network, a circuit-switched telephonenetwork, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) network, a WiFi network, an IEEE802.11 standards network, various combinations thereof, etc. Othernetworks, whose descriptions are omitted here for brevity, may also beused in conjunction with system 100 of FIG. 1 without departing from thescope of the present invention.

In communication system 100, computing devices 101A-101C may include asoftware agent, referred to herein as the Instant Messaging (IM) client104A-104C, respectively. Instant messaging clients 104A-104C maycollectively or individually be referred to as instant messaging clients104 or instant messaging client 104, respectively. Furthermore, server102 may include a software agent, referred to herein as the InstantMessaging (IM) server 105. IM client 104 provides the functionality tosend and receive instant messages. As messages are received, IM client104 presents the messages to the user in a dialog window (or IM window).Furthermore, IM client 104 provides the functionality for computingdevice 101 to connect to the IM server 105 which provides thefunctionality of distributing the instant messages to the IM clients 104associated with each of the sharing users.

Computing device 101A-101C may further include a software agent,referred to herein as the e-mail client agent 106A-106C, respectively.E-mail client agents 106A-106C may collectively or individually bereferred to as e-mail client agents 106 or e-mail client agent 106,respectively. Furthermore, server 102 may include a software agent,referred to herein as the e-mail server agent 107. E-mail client agent106 enables the user of computing device 101 to create, send and receivee-mails. E-mail server agent 107 is configured to receive e-mailmessages from computing device 101 and distribute the received e-mailmessages among the one or more computing devices 101.

While the preceding discusses each computing device 101 as including anIM client 104 and an e-mail client agent 106, each computing device 101may not necessarily include each of these software agents. Furthermore,while the preceding discusses a single server 102 including the softwareagents, such as IM server 105 and e-mail server agent 107, multipleservers may be used to implement these services. Furthermore, eachserver 102 may not necessarily be configured to include all of thesesoftware agents, but only a subset of these software agents.

System 100 further includes a Short Message Service (SMC) center 108configured to relay, store and forward text messages, such as SMSmessages, among computing devices 101 through network 103.

System 100 further includes a social network server 109, which may be aweb server configured to offer a social networking and/or microbloggingservice, enabling users of computing devices 101 to send and read otherusers' posts. “Posts,” as used herein, include any one or more of thefollowing: text (e.g., comments, sub-comments and replies), audio, videoimages, etc. Social network server 109 is connected to network 103 bywire or wirelessly. While FIG. 1 illustrates a single social networkserver 109, it is noted for clarity that multiple servers may be used toimplement the social networking and/or microblogging service.

System 100 further includes what is referred to herein as the “messageanalyzer” 110 connected to network 103 by wire or wirelessly. Messageanalyzer 110 is configured to ensure that all users of a group message(sender and recipients of the group message) receive a response to thegroup message when the response was received by only a subset of theusers of the group message as discussed further below in connection withFIGS. 3A-3B. As used herein, “users of the group message” refer to boththe sender and the recipients of the group message. Furthermore, messageanalyzer 110 is configured to broadcast the response to other users(other users besides the users of the group message) who received amessage involving a similar question that was queried in the groupmessage as discussed further below in connection with FIG. 4. Adescription of the hardware configuration of message analyzer 110 isprovided below in connection with FIG. 2.

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 1, message analyzer 110 is connected to adatabase 111 configured to store questions as well as identifications ofthe senders and recipients of messages containing such stored questions.In one embodiment, such questions and identifications are obtained frommessages sent over a communication network (e.g., network 103) that weremonitored and analyzed. In one embodiment, database 111 is furtherconfigured to store group messages that require a response as well asthe question or action item in the group message requiring a responseand the assessed urgency of the response. A more detailed description ofthese features will be discussed further below in connection with FIGS.3A-3B and 4.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of computing devices101, servers 102, networks 103, SMS centers 108, social network servers109, message analyzers 110 and databases 111.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the presentinvention of a hardware configuration of message analyzer 110 (FIG. 1)which is representative of a hardware environment for practicing thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 2, message analyzer 110 has aprocessor 201 coupled to various other components by system bus 202. Anoperating system 203 runs on processor 201 and provides control andcoordinates the functions of the various components of FIG. 2. Anapplication 204 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention runs in conjunction with operating system 203 and providescalls to operating system 203 where the calls implement the variousfunctions or services to be performed by application 204. Application204 may include, for example, programs for ensuring that all users of agroup message (sender and recipients of the group message) receive aresponse to the group message when the response was received by only asubset of the users of the group message as well as broadcasting theresponse to other users (other users besides the users of the groupmessage) who received a message involving a similar question that wasqueried in the group message as discussed further below in connectionwith FIGS. 3A-3B and 4.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of message analyzer 110. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupled to system bus202. It should be noted that software components including operatingsystem 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206, which may bemessage analyzer's 110 main memory for execution. Disk adapter 207 maybe an integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapter that communicateswith a disk unit 208, e.g., disk drive. It is noted that the programsfor ensuring that all users of a group message receive a response to thegroup message when the response was received by only a subset of theusers of the group message as well as broadcasting the response to otherusers (other users besides the users of the group message) who receiveda message involving a similar question that was queried in the groupmessage, as discussed further below in connection with FIGS. 3A-3B and4, may reside in disk unit 208 or in application 204.

Message analyzer 110 further includes a communications adapter 209coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnects bus 202with an outside network (e.g., network 103 of FIG. 1) thereby allowingmessage analyzer 110 to communicate with other devices, such ascomputing devices 101, servers 102, SMS centers 108 and social networkservers 109.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a computer, or other programmable data processing apparatusto produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computerreadable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readablestorage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable dataprocessing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be accomplished as one step, executed concurrently,substantially concurrently, in a partially or wholly temporallyoverlapping manner, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in thereverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will alsobe noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts orcarry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

As stated in the Background section, oftentimes, a message may be sentto multiple users, such as a group message (a message sent to a group ofusers). However, one of the recipients of the group message may notrespond to all the users of the group message (both the sender and allthe recipients of the group message). For example, a group message maybe sent via e-mail to a primary recipient by a sender while cc'ing otherusers. At times, the primary recipient of the message may respond to thesender directly in a different channel (e.g., via instant message) thanthe channel used to send the group message (e.g., via e-mail). As aresult, the response to the sender may not be received by the otherrecipients of the group message. The other recipients of the groupmessage may be waiting to receive a response, such as those recipientswho were cc'd in the original message. These other recipients mayfollow-up with the primary recipient to see if the user has responded tothe group message. The user would then have to resend or repeat the sameresponse message to the other recipients of the group message. Such aprocess is laborsome and counterproductive.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for ensuringthat all users of a group message (sender and recipients of the groupmessage) receive a response to the group message when the response wasreceived by only a subset of the users of the group message withoutrequiring the resending of the response by a user (e.g., sender of theresponse) to those other users of the group message who failed toreceive the original response as discussed below in connection withFIGS. 3A-3B. Furthermore, the principles of the present inventionprovide a means for broadcasting the response to the group message toother users (other users besides the users of the group message) whoreceived a message involving a similar question that was queried in thegroup message as discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.

FIGS. 3A-3B are a flowchart of a method 300 for ensuring that all usersof a group message (sender and recipients of the group message) receivea response to the group message when the response was received by only asubset of the users of the group message in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2, in step 301,message analyzer 110 monitors the messages sent over a communicationnetwork (e.g., network 103).

In step 302, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as towhether it detected a message (group message) out of the monitoredmessages that was sent to multiple users. In one embodiment, messageanalyzer 110 detects a group message based on identifying the number ofrecipients of a message (e.g., e-mail message, instant message). Ifthere are multiple recipients to receive a message sent by a sender,then such a message is a group message.

If message analyzer 110 did not detect a group message out of themonitored messages, then message analyzer 110 continues to monitor themessages sent over a communication network in step 301.

If, however, message analyzer 110 detects a group message out of themonitored messages, then, in step 303, message analyzer 110 analyzes thecontent of the group message to determine if the message requires aresponse and, if so, to assess the urgency of the response. In oneembodiment, a message requires a response due to a question or actionitem presented in the message. In one embodiment, message analyzerutilizes natural language processing to detect a question presented inthe message. For example, message analyzer 110 may search for certainpunctuation marks (e.g., “?”) that indicate a question is being asked.In another example, message analyzer 110 may search for certain words(e.g., “why,” “how”) that indicate a question is being asked.

An action item is a documented event, task, activity, or action thatneeds to take place. Action items are usually created during adiscussion by a group of people who are meeting about one or more topicsand during the discussion it is discovered that some kind of action isneeded. The action required is then documented as an action item andusually assigned to someone, usually a member of the group. The personto whom the action is assigned is then obligated to perform the actionand report back to the group on the results. In one embodiment, messageanalyzer 110 utilizes natural language processing to determine if thereis an action item in the analyzed message that requires a response to agroup of users based on detecting keywords, such as “meeting minutes” inconnection with a “task list.”

In one embodiment, the urgency of a message requiring a response isdetermined by message analyzer 110 using natural language processing.For example, message analyzer 110 may identify keywords, such as“urgent” and “as soon as possible,” to indicate a response that ishighly urgent. In another example, message analyzer 110 may determinethat a message is non-urgent in the absence of terms indicating urgencyor in response to keywords, such as “no hurry,” that indicate a lack ofan urgency in responding to the group message.

In step 304, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as towhether the analyzed group message requires a response. If the analyzedgroup message does not require a response, then message analyzer 110continues to monitor the messages sent over a communication network instep 301.

If, however, the analyzed group message requires a response, then, instep 305, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as to whetherit detects a response to the group message to all the users of the groupmessage within a threshold amount of time based on the urgency of theresponse. As used herein, “users of the group message” refer to both thesender and the recipients of the group message.

As discussed above, in step 303, message analyzer 110 analyzes thecontent of the group message to determine if the message requires aresponse and, if so, to assess the urgency of the response. Such anurgency of the response is used to determine the threshold amount oftime in which a response to the group message should be received by allthe users of the group message. A highly urgent response would requiresuch a response sooner (e.g., 1 day to receive the response by all theusers of the group message) than a non-urgent response (e.g., 3 days toreceive the response by all the users of the group message).

If a response to the group message has been sent to all the users of thegroup message within the threshold amount of time, then message analyzer110 continues to monitor the messages sent over a communication networkin step 301.

If, however, a response to the group message has not been sent to allthe users of the group message within the threshold amount of time,then, in step 306, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as towhether the response was sent and received by a subset of the users ofthe group message.

If a response has not been sent and received by a subset of the users ofthe group message, then the group message has not been sent to any ofthe users of the group message within the threshold amount of time. As aresult, in step 307, message analyzer 110 creates a message for thesender of the original group message (group message analyzed in step 303that was determined to require a response) that is populated with theoriginal group message that is to be sent to the recipients of the groupmessage. In this manner, message analyzer 110 is informing the senderthat a response has not yet been received to the previously sent groupmessage and that a follow-up message needs to be sent out in order toremind the recipients to please respond to the request.

After creating the follow-up message, a determination is made by messageanalyzer 110 as to whether it detects a response to the follow-up groupmessage to all the users of the group message within the thresholdamount of time in step 305. In one embodiment, the threshold deadlinefor having received a response to the group message by all the users ofthe group message is determined from the time that the follow-up messagewas sent.

Referring to FIG. 3B, if, however, a response to the group message wasonly received by a subset of the users of the group message, then, instep 308, message analyzer 110 analyzes the content of the response forany confidential information.

For example, if a sender sent out a group message to three people viae-mail and one of the recipients directly responded to the sender(whether using the same communication channel, such as e-mail, or adifferent communication channel, such as instant messaging) withoutcc'ing the other users who received the group message, then the responseis said to have only been received by a subset of the users of the groupmessage. In such a scenario, the content of the response is analyzed forconfidential information.

In one embodiment, message analyzer 110 analyzes the response forconfidential information utilizing natural language processing. Forexample, message analyzer 110 may search for keywords (e.g.,“confidential,” “restricted information”) that indicates confidentialinformation. In another example, message analyzer 110 may identify anytags associated with the response that indicate that the responsecontains confidential information.

In step 309, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as whetherit detects any confidential information in the response.

If message analyzer 110 detects any confidential information in theresponse, then, in step 310, message analyzer 110 does not broadcast theresponse to the other users of the group message who had not previouslyreceived the response.

If, however, message analyzer 110 does not detect any confidentialinformation in the response, then, in step 311, message analyzer 110broadcasts the response to the other users of the group message who hadnot previously received the response. In one embodiment, the response isbroadcasted over the same communication channel (e.g., e-mail) as thecommunication channel used to send out the originally sent group messageeven if the response that was sent to the subset of the users of thegroup message was sent on a different communication channel (e.g.,instant messaging).

In this manner, all users of a group message (recipients and sender) canbe ensured of receiving a response to the group message when theresponse was received by only a subset of the users of the group messagewithout requiring the resending of the response by a user (e.g., senderof the response) to the other users of the group message who failed toreceive the original response.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a means for broadcasting theresponse to the group message to other users (other users besides theusers of the group message) who received a message involving a similarquestion that was queried in the group message as discussed below inconnection with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for broadcasting the response tothe group message to other users (other users besides the users of thegroup message) who received a message involving a similar question thatwas queried in the group message in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2 and 3A-3B, in step401, message analyzer 110 analyzes the content of the monitored messages(see step 301) sent over the communication network (e.g., network 103)to identify questions.

In one embodiment, message analyzer utilizes natural language processingto detect a question presented in a message. For example, messageanalyzer 110 may search for certain punctuation marks (e.g., “?”) thatindicate a question is being asked. In another example, message analyzer110 may search for certain words (e.g., “why,” “how”) that indicate aquestion is being asked.

In step 402, a determination is made as to whether message analyzer 110detects a question in the analyzed message.

If a question was not detected, then message analyzer 110 continues toanalyze the content of the monitored messages (see step 301) sent overthe communication network to identify questions in step 401.

If, however, a question was detected, then, in step 403, messageanalyzer 110 stores the question along with the identifications of thesender and recipient(s) of the analyzed message containing the question,such as in database 111.

In step 404, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as towhether the question detected in the group message (see step 303) issimilar to a stored question within a threshold degree of similarity.

As discussed above, the group message is analyzed in step 303 todetermine if it requires a response, such as detecting a question beingasked in the group message. Such a question is compared to the storedquestions discussed in step 403 to determine if the question being askedin the group message is within a threshold degree of similarity of oneof these stored questions.

In one embodiment, the threshold degree of similarity is user-selected.

In one embodiment, message analyzer 110 utilizes natural languageprocessing to identify the number of terms in the question of the groupmessage and in the stored questions discussed in step 403 that havesimilar meaning. The higher the correlation, the more likely that thequestions are similar. Such a correlation may be assessed a value whichis compared to a threshold value.

If the question detected in the group message (see step 303) is notsimilar to a stored question within a threshold degree of similarity,then, in step 405, message analyzer 110 does not broadcast the responseto the group message.

If, however, the question detected in the group message (see step 303)is similar to a stored question within a threshold degree of similarity,then, in step 406, message analyzer 110 requests permission from thesender of the response to broadcast the response to other users (otherusers besides the users of the group message).

In step 407, a determination is made by message analyzer 110 as towhether the sender of the response provided permission to broadcast theresponse to other users.

If the sender of the response did not provide permission to broadcastthe response to other users, then message analyzer 110 does notbroadcast the response to the group message in step 405.

If, however, the sender of the response provided permission to broadcastthe response to other users, then, in step 408, message analyzer 110broadcasts the response to the sender and recipient(s) of the analyzedmessage involving a similar question. In one embodiment, the sender andrecipient(s) of the analyzed message are obtained from database 111.

In this manner, other users, such as users in different socialnetworking systems, may obtain the benefit of the knowledge discussed inthe response to the group message which may assist those users inanswering a question previously queried by them.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer program product for ensuringthat all users of a group message receive a response to the groupmessage, the computer program product comprising a computer readablestorage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program codecomprising the programming instructions for: monitoring messages sentover a communication network; detecting a group message from saidmonitored messages that was sent to multiple users; analyzing content ofsaid group message to determine if said group message requires aresponse and, if so, to assess an urgency of said response, wherein saidgroup message requires a response due to a question or action itempresented in said group message; determining whether a response to saidgroup message was sent and received by all users of said group messagewithin a threshold amount of time based on said urgency of said responsein response to said group message requiring said response, wherein saidusers of said group message comprise a sender and recipients of saidgroup message; determining whether said response to said group messagewas sent and received by a subset of all users of said group messagewithin said threshold amount of time in response to determining thatsaid response to said group message was not received by all users ofsaid group message within said threshold amount of time; andbroadcasting said response to said group message to other users of saidgroup message who had not previously received said response in responseto determining that said response to said group message was received bysaid subset of all users of said group message within said threshold oftime.
 2. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein theprogram code further comprises the programming instructions for:creating a follow-up group message for said sender of said group messagethat is populated with said group message that is to be sent to saidrecipients of said group message in response to not detecting a responseto said group message that was sent to any user of said group message;and determining whether a response to said follow-up group message wassent and received by all users of said group message within a secondthreshold amount of time, wherein said second threshold amount of timeis determined from a time that said follow-up group message was sent. 3.The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein the programcode further comprises the programming instructions for: analyzingcontent of said monitored messages sent over said communication networkto identify questions utilizing natural language processing; storing aquestion of a second message from said monitored messages along withidentifications of a sender and one or more recipients of said secondmessage containing said question in a database in response toidentifying said question in said second message; detecting a questionin said group message; determining whether said question detected insaid group message is similar to a stored question within a thresholddegree of similarity; and requesting permission from a sender of saidresponse to said group message to broadcast said response to said senderand said one or more recipients of said second message in response tosaid question of said second message being within said threshold degreeof similarity as said question in said group message.
 4. The computerprogram product as recited in claim 3, wherein said sender and said oneor more recipients of said second message are different users than saidusers of said group message, wherein the program code further comprisesthe programming instructions for: determining whether said sender ofsaid response to said group message provided permission to broadcastsaid response to said sender and said one or more recipients of saidsecond message; and broadcasting said response to said sender and saidone or more recipients of said second message in response to receivingpermission to broadcast said response to said sender and said one ormore recipients of said second message.
 5. The computer program productas recited in claim 1, wherein said action item is created during adiscussion by a group of people who are meeting about one or more topicsand during said discussion it is discovered that an action is needed,wherein said action required is documented as said action item andassigned to a member of said group of people.
 6. The computer programproduct as recited in claim 1, wherein said question presented in saidgroup message is detected using natural language processing, whereinsaid urgency of said response is determined using natural languageprocessing.
 7. The computer program product as recited in claim 1,wherein said response to said group message comprises an individualresponse from a single user of said users of said group message to saidsender of said group message without cc'ing other users who receivedsaid group message.
 8. The computer program product as recited in claim1, wherein said action item comprises a documented event, task, activityor action that needs to take place, wherein said threshold amount oftime corresponds to a time in which a response to said group messageshould be received by all users of said group message.
 9. The computerprogram product as recited in claim 1, wherein the program code furthercomprises the programming instructions for: analyzing content of saidresponse to said group message for confidential information byidentifying any tags associated with said response that indicate thatsaid response contains confidential information in response todetermining said group message requires said response and in response todetermining that said response to said group message was received bysaid subset of all users of said group message within said threshold oftime.
 10. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid response to said group message was sent to said subset of all usersof said group message over a different communication channel than acommunication channel used to send said group message, wherein saidresponse to said group message is broadcasted to other users of saidgroup message who had not previously received said response over saidcommunication channel used to send said group message.
 11. A system,comprising: a memory for storing a computer program for ensuring thatall users of a group message receive a response to the group message;and a processor connected to the memory, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute the program instructions of the computer programcomprising: monitoring messages sent over a communication network;detecting a group message from said monitored messages that was sent tomultiple users; analyzing content of said group message to determine ifsaid group message requires a response and, if so, to assess an urgencyof said response, wherein said group message requires a response due toa question or action item presented in said group message; determiningwhether a response to said group message was sent and received by allusers of said group message within a threshold amount of time based onsaid urgency of said response in response to said group messagerequiring said response, wherein said users of said group messagecomprise a sender and recipients of said group message; determiningwhether said response to said group message was sent and received by asubset of all users of said group message within said threshold amountof time in response to determining that said response to said groupmessage was not received by all users of said group message within saidthreshold amount of time; and broadcasting said response to said groupmessage to other users of said group message who had not previouslyreceived said response in response to determining that said response tosaid group message was received by said subset of all users of saidgroup message within said threshold of time.
 12. The system as recitedin claim 11, wherein the program instructions of the computer programfurther comprise: creating a follow-up group message for said sender ofsaid group message that is populated with said group message that is tobe sent to said recipients of said group message in response to notdetecting a response to said group message that was sent to any user ofsaid group message; and determining whether a response to said follow-upgroup message was sent and received by all users of said group messagewithin a second threshold amount of time, wherein said second thresholdamount of time is determined from a time that said follow-up groupmessage was sent.
 13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein theprogram instructions of the computer program further comprise: analyzingcontent of said monitored messages sent over said communication networkto identify questions utilizing natural language processing; storing aquestion of a second message from said monitored messages along withidentifications of a sender and one or more recipients of said secondmessage containing said question in a database in response toidentifying said question in said second message; detecting a questionin said group message; determining whether said question detected insaid group message is similar to a stored question within a thresholddegree of similarity; and requesting permission from a sender of saidresponse to said group message to broadcast said response to said senderand said one or more recipients of said second message in response tosaid question of said second message being within said threshold degreeof similarity as said question in said group message.
 14. The system asrecited in claim 13, wherein said sender and said one or more recipientsof said second message are different users than said users of said groupmessage, wherein the program instructions of the computer programfurther comprise: determining whether said sender of said response tosaid group message provided permission to broadcast said response tosaid sender and said one or more recipients of said second message; andbroadcasting said response to said sender and said one or morerecipients of said second message in response to receiving permission tobroadcast said response to said sender and said one or more recipientsof said second message.
 15. The system as recited in claim 11, whereinsaid action item is created during a discussion by a group of people whoare meeting about one or more topics and during said discussion it isdiscovered that an action is needed, wherein said action required isdocumented as said action item and assigned to a member of said group ofpeople.
 16. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said questionpresented in said group message is detected using natural languageprocessing, wherein said urgency of said response is determined usingnatural language processing.
 17. The system as recited in claim 11,wherein said response to said group message comprises an individualresponse from a single user of said users of said group message to saidsender of said group message without cc'ing other users who receivedsaid group message.
 18. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein saidaction item comprises a documented event, task, activity or action thatneeds to take place, wherein said threshold amount of time correspondsto a time in which a response to said group message should be receivedby all users of said group message.
 19. The system as recited in claim11, wherein the program instructions of the computer program furthercomprise: analyzing content of said response to said group message forconfidential information by identifying any tags associated with saidresponse that indicate that said response contains confidentialinformation in response to determining said group message requires saidresponse and in response to determining that said response to said groupmessage was received by said subset of all users of said group messagewithin said threshold of time.
 20. The system as recited in claim 11,wherein said response to said group message was sent to said subset ofall users of said group message over a different communication channelthan a communication channel used to send said group message, whereinsaid response to said group message is broadcasted to other users ofsaid group message who had not previously received said response oversaid communication channel used to send said group message.